Abstract

This is a study of the inter-relationship between welfare
ideology, welfare mix and the production of welfare. It has been
hypothesized that the welfare ideology of a state is likely to
affect its choice of welfare mix and the kind of social relations
produced in the wider society. In this study, normative theories
of the welfare state were reformulated by an analytical framework
into theoretical models of the welfare state as pre-test patterns
for comparison with practical policies under study. Child daycare
provisions in Britain and Hong Kong were chosen as the data to
test the hypothesis. A multiple-case-embedded design was used in
organizing this comparative study.
It was found that practising ideologies are more predictive
than idealized ideologies of state social policy. It was also
found that state social policy in the realm of child daycare was
related to its ideology : state ideology affects the choice of a
mix of welfare sectors and the form welfare is organised in the
production of social relations in the two societies studied.
Nevertheless, the inter-relationship between state ideology,
welfare mix and welfare production is constrained by three intervening variables. They are bureau-professional autonomy, interplay between opposing ideologies and flexibility of ideology in
the interpretation of state welfare because of a changing environment.
When the findings were examined from another perspective,
welfare sector and welfare production were seen to carry ideological meanings. This implies that a transaction of welfare goods
and services is not only a transaction of material or tangible
social services, but it is also an ideological transaction of
different social principles which underlie the welfare sectors.
This has led to the development of a theory of the ideological
production of welfare as an explanation of the relationship
between ideology and welfare sectors in the division of care and
welfare responsibilities in a society. Based on this theory, the
limitations of instrumental theories about the welfare mix were
discussed.
In conclusion, in the light of wider social and economic
changes within capitalism, an integrative strategy concerning the
welfare mix in particular and welfare in general has been proposed which duly recognizes the importance of ideology in maintaining social relations in a society as well as the social
context which these social relations underlie.